Views

Navigation

Letter to Parents about Testing

Parents, teachers and administrators are increasingly concerned about the testing that is taking place -- and how the testing is being used -- in New York State. Below, please find a copy of a letter expressing the concerns of many principals. The letter is written to parents by principals. We hope you can support the letter by signing your name to it.

Join the 557 New York State Principals and nearly 3,500 friends who have signed the letter!

We
are the principals of your children’s schools. We serve communities in every
corner of New York State — from Niagara County to Clinton, Chautauqua to Suffolk. We come from
every size and type of school, with students from every background. We thank
you for sharing your children with us and for entrusting us to ensure that they
acquire the skills and knowledge they need to achieve their dreams and your
hopes for them.

This
year, many of your children experienced the first administration of the newly
revised New York State Assessments. You may have heard that teachers,
administrators, and parents are questioning the validity of these tests. As
dedicated administrators, we have carefully observed the testing process and
have learned a great deal about these tests and their impact. We care deeply
about your children and their learning and want to share with you what we know
— and what we do not know — about these new state assessments.

Here’s what we know:

1)NYS Testing Has Increased
Dramatically:
We know that our students are spending more time taking State tests than ever
before. Since 2010, the amount of time spent on average taking the 3-8 ELA and
Math tests has increased by a whopping 128%! The increase has been particularly
hard on our younger students, with third graders seeing an increase of 163%!

2)The Tests were Too Long: We know that many students
were unable to complete the tests in the allotted time. Not only were the tests
lengthy and challenging, but embedded field test questions extended the length
of the tests and caused mental exhaustion, often before students reached the
questions that counted toward their scores. For our Special Education students
who receive additional time, these tests have become more a measure of
endurance than anything else.

3)Ambiguous Questions Appeared
throughout the Exams: We know that many teachers and principals could not agree on the
correct answers to ambiguous questions in both ELA and Math. In some schools,
identical passages and questions appeared on more than one test and at more
than one grade level. One school reported that on one day of the ELA
Assessment, the same passage with identical questions was included in the
third, fourth AND fifth grade ELA Assessments.

4)Children have Reacted
Viscerally to the Tests: We know that many children cried during or after testing, and others
vomited or lost control of their bowels or bladders. Others simply gave up. One
teacher reported that a student kept banging his head on the desk, and wrote,
“This is too hard,” and “I can’t do this,” throughout his test booklet.

5)The Low Passing Rate was
Predicted:
We know that in his “Implementation of the Common Core Learning Standards” memo
of March 2013, Deputy Commissioner Slentz stated that proficiency scores (i.e.,
passing rate) on the new assessments would range between 30%-37% statewide.
When scores were released in August 2013, the statewide proficiency rate was
announced as 31%.

6)The College Readiness
Benchmark is Irresponsibly Inflated: We know that the New York State Education Department
used SAT scores of 560 in Reading, 540 in Writing and 530 in mathematics, as
the college readiness benchmarks to help set the “passing” cut scores on the
3-8 New York State exams. These NYSED scores, totaling 1630, are far higher than
the College Board’s own college readiness benchmark score of 1550. By doing
this, NYSED has carelessly inflated the “college readiness” proficiency cut
scores for students as young as nine years of age.

7)State Measures are
Contradictory: We know that many children are receiving scores that are not
commensurate with the abilities they demonstrate on other measures,
particularly the New York State Integrated Algebra Regents examination. Across
New York, many accelerated eighth-graders scored below proficiency on the
eighth grade test only to go on and excel on the Regents examination one month
later. One district reports that 58% of the students who scored below
proficiency on the NYS Math 8 examination earned a mastery score on the
Integrated Algebra Regents.

8)Students Labeled as Failures
are Forced Out of Classes: We know that many students who never needed Academic Intervention
Services (AIS) in the past, are now receiving mandated AIS as a result of the
failing scores. As a result, these students are forced to forgo enrichment
classes. For example, in one district, some middle school students had to give
up instrumental music, computer or other special classes in order to fit AIS
into their schedules.

9)The Achievement Gap is
Widening: We
know that the tests have caused the achievement gap to widen as the scores of
economically disadvantaged students plummeted, and that parents are reporting
that low-scoring children feel like failures.

10)The Tests are Putting
Financial Strains on Schools: We know that many schools are spending precious
dollars on test prep materials, and that instructional time formerly dedicated
to field trips, special projects, the arts and enrichment, has been reallocated
to test prep, testing, and AIS services.

11)The Tests are Threatening
Other State Initiatives: Without a doubt, the emphasis on testing is threatening other
important State initiatives, most notably the implementation of the Common Core
State Standards (CCSS). Parents who see the impact of the testing on their
children are blaming the CCSS, rather than the unwise decision to implement
high stakes testing before proper capacity had been developed. As long as these
tests remain, it will be nearly impossible to have honest conversations about
the impact of the CCSS on our schools.

Here’s what we
do not know:

1)How these Tests will Help
our Students:
With the exception of select questions released by the state, we do not have
access to the test questions. Without access to the questions, it is nearly
impossible to use the tests to help improve student learning.

2)How to Use these Tests to
Improve Student Skills or Understanding: Tests should serve as a tool for assessing
student skills and understanding. Since we are not informed of the make-up of
the tests, we do not know, with any level of specificity, the content or skills
for which children require additional support. We do not even know how many
points were allotted for each question.

3)The Underlying Cause of Low
Test Scores:
We do not know if children’s low test scores are actually due to lack of skills
in that area or simply a case of not finishing the test — a problem that
plagued many students.

4)What to Expect Next Year: We do not know what to
expect for next year. Our students are overwhelmed by rapidly changing
standards, curriculum and assessments. It is nearly impossible to serve and
protect the students in our care when expectations are in constant flux and put
in place rapidly in a manner that is not reflective of sound educational
practice.

5)How Much this is Costing
Already-Strained Taxpayers: We don’t know how much public money is being paid to vendors and
corporations that the NYSED contracts to design assessments, nor do we know if
the actual designers are educationally qualified.

Please
know that we, your school principals, care about your children and will
continue to do everything in our power to fill their school days with learning
that is creative, engaging, challenging, rewarding and joyous. We encourage you
to dialogue with your child’s teachers so that you have real knowledge of his
skills and abilities across all areas. If your child scored poorly on the test,
please make sure that he does not internalize feelings of failure. We believe
that the failure was not on the part of our children, but rather with the
officials of the New York State Education Department. These are the individuals
who chose to recklessly implement numerous major initiatives without proper
dialogue, public engagement or capacity building. They are the individuals who
have failed.

As
principals of New York schools, it is always our goal to move forward in a
constant state of improvement. Under current conditions, we fear that the hasty
implementation of unpiloted assessments will continue to cause more harm than
good. Please work with us to preserve a healthy learning environment for our
children and to protect all of the unique varieties of intelligence that are
not reducible to scores on standardized tests. Your child is so much more than
a test score, and we know it.